Newscast Media NEW
YORK—US agricultural officials have said that American pork is "safe to
eat" and that trade talks with Russia are ongoing, following Moscow's
decision to suspend hog imports over virus fears.

Russia said last Thursday that it was suspending hog imports from the
US over concerns about outbreaks of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus
(PED) killing piglets. The suspension came into effect last Friday.

Abby Yigzaw, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
spokesperson, told RIA Novosti that US experts had confirmed the
presence of PED in the US last year but said that it cannot be
transferred to humans.

"PED is not a zoonotic disease," Yigzaw said, referring to conditions
that can pass from animals to humans. "It does not affect people, pets
or other animals. Nor is PED a food safety concern. US pork is safe to
eat."

China and Japan also have restricted imports of live US hogs over the
highly contagious disease that has wiped out some 10 per cent of the US
hog population since it was identified in May last year.

Yigzaw said that "correspondence with our counterparts in Russia"
continues and that the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service is "working closely with interested trading partners on the
presence of PED virus in the US".